TREASURE IRELAND WITH ‘GOLDSMYTH’
IRELAND’S gold machine Jason Smyth sprinted to his 10th major title – then warned his rivals he is not finished yet.
Smyth, nicknamed The Goldsmyth, won the T13 200m in 21.40 seconds to add to his 100m gong from Sunday, making it five Paralympic golds and five world championships.
Smyth has never been beaten in a global meeting stretching back to 2008 and stepped off the track here in the London Stadium and turned his attention to the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
The 30-year-old said: “There is something that keeps me wanting to go longer.
“I definitely want to go to another Games and if I could go to Tokyo and win gold, not many people have been to four Games and won golds all the way.
“There are still things I would like to achieve.” The Derryman won double gold at London 2012 and joined the chorus of athletes lobbying for the world championships to return to the capital for the 2019 shindig, which is still looking for a home.
Smyth added: “I would be more than happy.
“When you reflect on other world championships, they have not been well supported and no one supports the para athletics like Britain does. To me, Sunday night was a better atmosphere than the Paralympic Games were in my race – that says something for how great a job London do.”
The GB gold wagon took a breather as the hosts had few athletes on show yesterday.
Luke Sinnott (T42 long jump), Sabrina Fortune (F20 shot) and Polly Maton (T47 100m) all missed out.